Synpet invests 300 million euros in plastic recycling plant in Antwerp
Belgian-Turkish recycling specialist Synpet will invest 300 million euros in a new recycling plant for plastic waste at the Port of Antwerp, creating more than 100 direct and indirect jobs. The company announced the project on Wednesday at the city's Port House.
The plant in Antwerp will convert mixed plastic waste into a circular substitute for naphtha, a petroleum-based feedstock used to produce plastics. The resulting product can be used directly by petrochemical companies in the port to make new plastics.
Synpet says more than ten years of research preceded the project. The technology can process waste that is not normally recyclable with existing methods such as pyrolysis and gasification. Once operational, the Antwerp plant should convert 250,000 tonnes of untreated plastic waste per year into circular products.
Solution to plastic waste
According to CEO Cem Özsüer, the world urgently needs solutions for plastic waste. "Our technology proves that plastic does not have to be the problem, it can be part of the solution," he said. "What was once waste becomes a valuable raw material again."
"What was once waste becomes a valuable raw material again"
The plastic feedstock will come from across Europe, from Norway to Italy. Özsüer added that the company benefits from European rules that ban the export of waste outside the EU. "Instead of burning it, they give it to us."
Synpet is partnering with Euroports, one of the world's largest port infrastructure operators, and Swiss petrochemical group Kolmar. The facility is expected to be fully operational in the second half of 2028.
In the longer term, Synpet also plans to expand to the United States. Scouts have already been sent to the East Coast and California.
#FlandersNewsService | Port of Antwerp CEO Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO Euroports Frederic Platini and CEO SynPet Technologies Cem Ozsuer. © BELGA PHOTO TOM GOYVAERTS
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